The Sabbath

Probably the’ hottest potato’ on the site. The founder of one well known Sabbatarian group of churches started his Biblical research by trying to prove that the Sabbath was Sunday. There was no thought in his mind at the time that it might not be necessary to observe it. When he eventually concluded it was Saturday and had not been ‘changed’, the mind set was established and later he set about ‘proving’ that it was mandatory to ‘keep’ it. Myriad ‘daughter’ churches of the one he established together with 7th Day Adventists and of course the vast majority of Jews continue to teach that it is a command of God to be observed ‘for ever’. But is this true?

The position held here is that ‘The Sabbath’ certainly was Saturday (for what it’s worth!) but was part of the Decalogue given to the Ancient Israelites at Sinai and finds it’s fulfillment in the ‘Sabbath’ rest which all Christians ‘enter into’ in that they cease from their ‘work’ in trying to justify themselves.

Other interpretations are numerous. That the ‘sabbath’ was changed to Sunday, which is the day of ‘worship’. That one day in seven should be ‘set aside’ but it doesn’t matter which. That the Sabbath is the one remaining mandatory command. That all the commandments are for Christians including the Sabbath (or Sunday!). That most of the ‘Law of Moses’ is still binding. And finally that Sunday is ‘The Lord’s Day’ but not the Sabbath. All of these positions will be examined as they conflict with the New Covenant view and their objections to it considered in the ‘Yes – but!’ section.